StarkSt Vík 26VIII (Gautr 34)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 34 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 26)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 277.
Fylgða ‘followed’
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2. fylgja (verb): follow, accompany
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
fylki ‘the ruler’
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fylkir (noun m.): leader
þeim ‘the’
[2] þeim er: om. 152
framast ‘most distinguished’
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framr (adj.; °compar. framari/fremri, superl. framastr/fremstr): outstanding, foremost
vissak ‘I knew’
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1. vita (verb): know
unða ‘enjoyed’
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una (verb): be content, love
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
bezt ‘the best’
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betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. góðr adj.): better, best
ævi ‘life’
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ævi (noun f.; °-/-ar): life
minni ‘my’
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minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
áðr ‘before’
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áðr (adv.; °//): before
notes
[5] áðr fór †ór† ‘before I went …’: Most eds accept the conjecture áðr fórum vér ‘before we went’, based in part on 152’s verr, though this would necessitate a change from the speaker’s 1st pers. sg. discourse in the first helmingr.
fór ‘I went’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
notes
[5] áðr fór †ór† ‘before I went …’: Most eds accept the conjecture áðr fórum vér ‘before we went’, based in part on 152’s verr, though this would necessitate a change from the speaker’s 1st pers. sg. discourse in the first helmingr.
notes
[5] áðr fór †ór† ‘before I went …’: Most eds accept the conjecture áðr fórum vér ‘before we went’, based in part on 152’s verr, though this would necessitate a change from the speaker’s 1st pers. sg. discourse in the first helmingr.
en ‘but’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
notes
[6] en flögð ollu því ‘but demons caused that’: The line is reminiscent of the intercalary clause bǫnd ollu því ‘the powers caused that’ in Þjóð Haustl 17/2III, although flǫgð are lesser beings than the pre-Christian gods (bǫnd). Starkaðr is here attributing the cause of his dastardly sacrifice of his own leader to flǫgð, translated here as ‘demons’ rather than the more specific ‘ogresses, troll-women’. As the noun can refer to male as well as female supernatural beings (cf. Ingimarr Lv 1/1II), and may do so here, given the context, female causative agents have not been written into the translation.
því ‘that’
[6] því: ‘þun’(?) 152
notes
[6] en flögð ollu því ‘but demons caused that’: The line is reminiscent of the intercalary clause bǫnd ollu því ‘the powers caused that’ in Þjóð Haustl 17/2III, although flǫgð are lesser beings than the pre-Christian gods (bǫnd). Starkaðr is here attributing the cause of his dastardly sacrifice of his own leader to flǫgð, translated here as ‘demons’ rather than the more specific ‘ogresses, troll-women’. As the noun can refer to male as well as female supernatural beings (cf. Ingimarr Lv 1/1II), and may do so here, given the context, female causative agents have not been written into the translation.
flögð ‘demons’
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flagð (noun n.): troll-woman
notes
[6] en flögð ollu því ‘but demons caused that’: The line is reminiscent of the intercalary clause bǫnd ollu því ‘the powers caused that’ in Þjóð Haustl 17/2III, although flǫgð are lesser beings than the pre-Christian gods (bǫnd). Starkaðr is here attributing the cause of his dastardly sacrifice of his own leader to flǫgð, translated here as ‘demons’ rather than the more specific ‘ogresses, troll-women’. As the noun can refer to male as well as female supernatural beings (cf. Ingimarr Lv 1/1II), and may do so here, given the context, female causative agents have not been written into the translation.
ollu ‘caused’
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valda (verb): cause
notes
[6] en flögð ollu því ‘but demons caused that’: The line is reminiscent of the intercalary clause bǫnd ollu því ‘the powers caused that’ in Þjóð Haustl 17/2III, although flǫgð are lesser beings than the pre-Christian gods (bǫnd). Starkaðr is here attributing the cause of his dastardly sacrifice of his own leader to flǫgð, translated here as ‘demons’ rather than the more specific ‘ogresses, troll-women’. As the noun can refer to male as well as female supernatural beings (cf. Ingimarr Lv 1/1II), and may do so here, given the context, female causative agents have not been written into the translation.
hinzta ‘for the last’
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hindri (adj. comp.; °superl. hinztr): [for last]
notes
[7] hinzta ‘last’: Both mss have inzta, but the <h> has been restored to achieve regular alliteration.
sinni ‘time’
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2. sinn (noun n.; °?dat. -): time
til ‘to’
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til (prep.): to
notes
[8] til Hörðalands ‘to Hordaland’: According to the prose text, Víkarr had sailed north from Agder to Hordaland with a large army when they encountered unfavourable winds near a group of small islands. They tried divination to find out when the wind would turn and were informed that Óðinn demanded a human sacrifice. They cast lots to discover who it was fated to be and all signs pointed to Víkarr.
Hörða ‘Horda’
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Hǫrðar (noun m.): the Hǫrðar < Hǫrðaland (noun n.)
notes
[8] til Hörðalands ‘to Hordaland’: According to the prose text, Víkarr had sailed north from Agder to Hordaland with a large army when they encountered unfavourable winds near a group of small islands. They tried divination to find out when the wind would turn and were informed that Óðinn demanded a human sacrifice. They cast lots to discover who it was fated to be and all signs pointed to Víkarr.
lands ‘land’
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land < Hǫrðaland (noun n.)
[8] ‑lands: ‘lannz’ 152
notes
[8] til Hörðalands ‘to Hordaland’: According to the prose text, Víkarr had sailed north from Agder to Hordaland with a large army when they encountered unfavourable winds near a group of small islands. They tried divination to find out when the wind would turn and were informed that Óðinn demanded a human sacrifice. They cast lots to discover who it was fated to be and all signs pointed to Víkarr.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The five following stanzas, Vík 26-30 (Gautr 34-8), are cited without intervening prose in two mss, 152 and 590b-cˣ, at the end of the long prose account of how Starkaðr was persuaded by his foster-father, Hrosshárs-Grani, who is now revealed as the god Óðinn, to sacrifice Víkarr to him by hanging his lord from a tree. After this event, Starkaðr was reviled in Hordaland and fled Norway, spending a long time at Uppsala with the kings Eiríkr and Alrekr. The prose text presents Vík 26-30 as part of Starkaðr’s response to King Alrekr’s request to him to tell his life story: þá orti Starkaðr kvæði, þat er heitir Víkarsbálkr: þar segir svá frá drápi Víkars konungs ‘then Starkaðr composed the poem that is called Víkarr’s section; there it says thus about the killing of King Víkarr’ (the wording of 590b-cˣ).
Aside from l. 5, which is corrupt, the metre of this stanza is fornyrðislag. — This stanza probably alludes to the story of Starkaðr’s killing of Víkarr by hanging him from a tree and piercing him with a reed-stalk in lieu of a spear. The hanging was presented to Starkaðr by Hrosshárs-Grani as a symbolic act, but it became a real sacrifice when the reed inexplicably became a spear and the noose of animal guts became a strong band. The story is told with some variation both in Gautr (Gautr 1900, 28-31) and in Saxo’s Gesta Danorum (Saxo 2015, I, vi. 5. 6-7, pp. 380-3). It is likely that the kernel of the narrative is old, though how old is not possible to determine. Other aspects of the story, such as the hero’s patronage by both Þórr and Óðinn, and the gifts that each god bestows on him, are also well established in Old Norse literature; for a review, see Turville-Petre (1964, 205-11).
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